Fate of Awakening Love
by jilduck
Summary: When Inuyasha dies, Kagome is sent into a deep depression, refusing to return to the past for 7 years. When she DOES return, however, there is someone waiting for her, someone who she has long forgotten. . .(Rated for violence, language, mild innuendo, an


Fate of Awakening Love  
A/N:Konnichiwa, minna-san! Well it HAS been awhile, hasn't it? I've been writing so many fics lately, none of them have been finished! I have several Inuyasha fics, a few FFIX fics, an MKR fic, a Zelda fic, even a Rurouni Kenshin fic coming soon (or as soon as I can finish them @.@)! Anyway, this fic WILL be a chapterish one, since any love takes a while to develop. (It's gonna be long, too. . . muahaha.) The prologue is probably not very well-written, but that's what happens when you get less than 2 hours of sleep the night before (Faeria417 and I were painting a Ken doll to look like Gaylink. Yay, Gaylink!). Also, this fic is NOT Inuyasha x Kagome, it's Inuyasha x Kikyou (kind of....) and Kagome x ??? (read on to find out, muahaha!), so I don't want to hear ANY crap from you! I KNOW Inuyasha and Kagome is a very cute coupling and they ARE destined to be together, but I want to be different, so no flaming me and telling me that I'm wrong!!! Who's to say, hm??? Oh well, sorry about that, I can get QUITE opinionated...  
Ja!   
- S-chan who is impatiently waiting for her chance to see the Inuyasha movie.... I WANT MENOUMARU NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Warning: Prologue is overly fluffy and probably overly descriptive. I have no editors that can get the job done quickly... sue me.  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko. Not to me. Or VIZ. Man, I wish it DID belong to me. Then I would make Sesshoumaru my eternal love slave and viciously murder Kikyou! And yes, the plague belongs to Watase Yuu. I wasn't feeling very creative. . .  
  
(Note: Any flames that I DO get will be used to heat Sesshoumaru's and my bed!!!! Gah hah hah!!!! v)   
  
For Gaylink. (Don't ask...)  
  
  
Prologue: The Parting  
  
  
"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, daijoubu?!" came a voice from within a small hovel in a small village. A girl, her name Higurashi Kagome, was crouched over a form that was sprawled upon the ground, having just collapsed. The figure, clad in red kimono, was breathing heavily and hacking, as if he were trying to be rid of something unwanted in his throat.   
"So hot. . . Kagome. . ." Inuyasha gasped, pants coming with each strained word. Kagome bit her lip, immensely worried, as she rolled him over onto his back, taking off his outer coat, exposing the white fabric underneath.   
"Is that better, Inuyasha?" she asked, her voice soaked with fear, fear of him dying. The hanyou turned to her and opened his eyes, the color of twin suns. Kagome gasped. Those normally healthy, deviant golden eyes now had a glazed appearance to them, like they were old and fading quickly.   
"Hai, Kagome, arigatou. . ." he whispered, closing his eyes again. Kagome nodded, biting her lip as she put a hand to her companion's forehead. She withdrew her hand almost immediately, her worries being confirmed.  
"Inuyasha, you've got a horrible fever, we've got to do something. . ." she mumbled to him, lips trembling. The hanyou coughed.   
"Mizu. . . Need some water, Kagome. . ." he hacked. Kagome nodded, but quivered at the sight of the blood that now stained Inuyasha's lips.   
"H-hai. . . I'll go get you some water and fetch Kaede-sama. . ." she said. She started to get up from her position, however, when she felt a hand on her leg.   
"Kagome. . . Don't leave me. . ." he choked, hand holding on firmly to her thigh. Normally, Kagome would have slapped him and called him a pervert, just like Miroku, but there was something about his touch that stopped her. He felt so frail, so helpless. He needed her. She blinked away a few tears.   
"Don't worry, Inuyasha, I'll be right back. I'll get you some water. . . Wait for me. . ." she said, her voice determined. She looked down to see the half-demon nod, a gentle smile upon his flushed face.   
"A...Alright then, Kagome. . . I'll... wait for you. . . Only...Only for you. . ." he coughed, letting go of her leg. She smiled back at him, then raced off to the village well.   
Taking out a ceramic bowl, she dipped it slowly into the cool, crystalline liquid, letting it coat her forearm with its wetness. Inuyasha's words rang in her mind.   
"Only...Only for you. . ."   
Was he trying to tell her...how he truly felt? Was he only waiting for her? She felt the blood creep into her cheeks as she approached Kaede-sama's hut to give her sick companion his drink. They had spent well over 2 years together, fighting demons and collecting the shards of the Shikon no tama, the Jewel of Four Souls. And they had, in the end, won. Naraku was finally dead, and the jewel had been used to put the Lady Kikyou to a well-deserved rest, much to her dismay, as Inuyasha had not gone to hell with her. All was well in the Sengoku Jidai. . . until the plague came. It was said to destroy the body at an alarming rate, first causing a dangerously high fever, then blindness, then partial paralysis, then. . . then death. Kagome shuddered as she looked at all the graves that decorated the hillside now... so many of the villagers had been claimed by the plague. And now Inuyasha. . . he was starting to show symptoms.   
Once Kagome reached the small hut, she wasted no time getting to the back room, where Inuyasha lay. He looked worse now, his silver hair soaked thoroughly with sweat, his cheeks the color of spring roses, his breathing very labored. Immediately, Kagome knelt by him and brought the bowl of cold water to his mouth.  
"Here's your water, Inuyasha. . ." she choked, feeling tears push at the backs of her eyes. She was pretty sure that Inuyasha had caught the plague, as no other disease could affect such a half-demon so, and there was no cure for it. The only escape from its pain and suffering was through the gates of death.   
Inuyasha drank the water with some effort, it hurt to swallow. But he was very grateful for the liquid; it cooled his burning throat and seemed to drive away some of the heat in his body. When he finished, he panted a little, his chest hurting him from coughing and trying to breathe.   
"Thanks, Kagome. . ." he muttered, his voice barely audible. Then he opened his eyes to gaze upon her face. . . but all he saw was black.   
"Inuyasha?! Inuyasha, what is it?!" Kagome said, practically in tears at the frightened expression on the hanyou's face. Inuyasha reached out blindly with his hands, trying to find her, trying to locate his Kagome.  
"Kagome?! Kagome, where are you?! I..I can't see you, Kagome!" he cried, afraid of this darkness he was in. Suddenly, his right hand miraculously found hers, and he gripped it like he would never let it go, as if she alone would lead him out of the dark. And, afraid, he felt a tear roll down the side of his face, just one.   
Kagome trembled. It was true. Inuyasha had been infected with the plague. She felt like sobbing into Inuyasha's strong, chiseled chest, but decided to remain strong for him. She too, gripped onto his hand, unusually clammy, so that if he fell into the pit of death, she would somehow hold him back. She knew it sounded ludicrous, but she couldn't imagine a life without Inuyasha. She loved him. A few tears spilled from her eyes involuntarily, splashing on Inuyasha's lips. He opened his unseeing eyes and licked her tears off.   
"Kagome. . . why are you crying?" he said gently, reaching his hand up to caress her. She trembled under his weak touch.   
"Because. . ." she said, her cheeks flushing, "Because a life without you is no life at all." Inuyasha blinked back the tears that were forming in his eyes and shook his head.  
"Kagome. . .Don't say that. Even if I die, your life must go on. It will go on." he said, trembling at the thought of Kagome in a state of depression. But she shook her head.  
"No, Inuyasha... I...I live for you. Inuyasha...Inuyasha, I love you! I wanted to share my life with you!" she cried, giving in to her tears. Inuyasha smiled gently.   
"And so you will. I'll be right there, Kagome," he said, touching her left breast, which covered her heart. "I'll always reside there." Kagome said nothing more, but flung herself down on Inuyasha's chest softly, crying. This was too much for the hanyou, as the flood of tears broke his dam of toughness. He cried with her, not able to see her loving, beautiful face, but able to touch her warmth, hear her voice, breathe in her wonderful scent. Her scent, such a gentle scent, comforted him, filled his heart with Kagome. He tried to reach up to dry away his tears, but found he could not move either hand. So he just lay there for a few minutes, listening to the beating of Kagome's heart against his own. He cried a little more. Then he spoke.  
"Kagome...I... I love you, Kagome, beyond all comprehensible reason. I wanted to share my life with you, too. I wanted to get married, I wanted to start a family with you," he sobbed, making Kagome cry harder. "I'm so sorry that our dreams will never be fulfilled. . ." Kagome reached out and touched the hanyou's face, fondled his ears.   
"Inuyasha. . .I want to come with you. . ." she said. But he shook his head no.  
"Iie, Kagome. Stay here. Keep living, and live your life to the fullest," he choked, a loving smile gracing his lips. She said nothing.  
"You know, Kagome," he said, breathing in more of her calming scent. "When I was younger, I always wished that I would be reincarnated as a great taiyoukai, with pure-blood and everything. When I died the first time, though, I was never reborn. But then you came into my life, gave me a second chance at living. Now, I don't care what I'm reborn as, I...I just want to be part of your life again, Kagome. So maybe. . just maybe, we'll see each other again someday." Kagome stopped crying at this and wiped her eyes, nodding. She sat back up and continued caressing Inuyasha's face from there.   
The two sat like that for hours, not a word passing between them. The sun sank lower and lower into the horizon, until dusk was upon the village. Kaede-sama, Miroku, Sango, and Shippou had long since returned, but dared not venture into the back room where Inuyasha and Kagome were currently positioned. It was for the best.   
Suddenly as the sun faded behind the hillside, Inuyasha cried out, his body quivering violently. Kagome's breath caught in her throat.  
"Kagome. . . so cold. . . I'm so cold. . ." he said, his teeth chattering. Kagome nodded and spread his outer kimono over him like a blanket, though it did not seem to stop his shaking. Both he and Kagome knew his end was nigh. So he turned his fading face to Kagome's scent, filling his lungs with her love.  
"Don't leave me, Kagome. . ." he whimpered. And she smiled.   
"Don't worry, Inuyasha. . . I will never leave you," she said, cradling his head in her arms. He smiled once, a smile so full of hope and love, then gave a great shudder, like all the life was being shaken from him. Then he was limp in Kagome's arms.   
With tears flooding violently down her cheeks and with trembling hands, Kagome gently lifted the rosary from Inuyasha's neck, freeing him forever from her "osuwari" spell. He would have wanted that. She smiled again, through the waterfall of tears.  
"You're free, Inuyasha. . ." she exclaimed, hugging the body of the man she loved. Suddenly, a light breeze blew through the hovel, ruffling Kagome and Inuyasha's hair. She could have sworn she felt Inuyasha's love upon that wind. . .  
  
Some time later, Kagome emerged from the back room and faced the others, eyes dry, but pained. She looked at all of them, felt their anxiety, and closed her eyes as she dropped Inuyasha's rosary on the wooden floor, hearing it shatter, like her heart. The other's understood. Inuyasha was gone.   
  
  
A/N: How was that? Overly fluffy? Overly crappy? Review it and let me know! Then I'll start on the actual fic (this was just a prologue, heh heh!)! And no, you probably won't like it. Because I am a Queen of strange couplings! ^-^   
(And yes, for those of you who have seen the anime, Inu-chan acted a bit....Manten-ish.)  
  
S-chan: Well, time to write chapter one!!!   
  
Sesshoumaru: I'd better not be in this fic.  
  
S-chan: Muahahaha! You'll have to read on to find out!  
  
Sesshoumaru: Don't give me that look, you crazy woman. . .  
  
S-chan: Hm. I wonder if maybe I should write a yaoi lemon involving. . . Sesshoumaru and Naraku!!! YAY!!! YAOI!!!!  
  
Sesshoumaru: NOOOOOOOOO!!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!!  
  
Gaylink: Teehee! Yaoi is fun!!! ^-^ ^-^  
  
Sesshoumaru: Onna! Keep your sick creation out of this!   
  
~Ja!~  
Shippou-chan (shippouchan@sesshoumaru.com)  
  
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